6 people jumped White House fence in past year, Secret Service boss reveals

The U.S. Secret Service director has told lawmakers she takes full responsibility for the serious breach of White House security when an Army veteran with a knife climbed the fence and made his way into the executive mansion before he was tackled. Julia Pierson also told committee there have been six fence-jumpers this year alone, including one just eight days before the latest intrusion.

This is unacceptable. I take full responsibility and it will never happen again.

Julia Pierson, Secret Service director

Pierson was testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in her first public accounting of the episode. She told the committee that the latest security breach was unacceptable and added she would make sure it “never happens again”. The Army veteran, Omar J Gonzalez, made it much further into the White House on September 19 than previously disclosed by the embattled agency assigned to protect President Barack Obama. He was eventually tackled by a counterassault agent, according to The Washington Post.

I hate to even imagine what could have happened if Gonzalez had been carrying a gun instead of a knife when he burst inside the White House.

Elijah Cummings, top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

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